urn:taro:utexas.cah.01760A Guide to the Students for a Democratic Society Records,
1962-1978Original EAD encoding by Laurel Rozema according to TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing
Instructions. July 2010Finding aid written in English.
Descriptive Summary
Students for a Democratic Society (U.S.). University
of Texas Chapter.Students for a Democratic Society
Records1962-1978Materials are written in English.2001-032; 2002-112; 2013-253; 2013-2935 in. Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The
University of Texas at AustinMaterials pertain to the activities, including protests and meetings, of
the University of Texas SDS and associated student organizations.
Biographical Note

The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) formed in 1960 out of the Student League
for Industrial Democracy. The New Left organization championed civil rights for
African Americans, Mexicans, and other minority groups as well as social-political
reforms, including public welfare programs and workers’ rights. It protested the war
in Vietnam, racial discrimination, and anti-communism. In 1962, the SDS held its
first national convention and drafted the Port Huron Statement, which outlined their
motivation and goals, advocating nonviolent civil disobedience and uniting forces
with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. The next year, six official
university chapters and several unofficial chapters, including University of Texas
at Austin, had formed.

The Austin chapter focused on local Texas political and social issues. These included
the Board of Regents’ controversial policies against the SDS and similar
organizations under Frank Erwin’s chairmanship, labor strikes and newspapers to
represent workers’ rights and opinions, and protests against discriminatory
sentencing practices and restrictions on people’s First Amendment rights.

In the late 1960s, the SDS split into several factions, including the Revolutionary
Youth Movement and the Worker Student Alliance. However, most SDS chapters dissolved
by the mid-1970s, not to appear again until the early 21st century.

Source:

Sale, Kirkpatrick. SDS. New York: Vintage Books,
1973.

Scope and Contents

The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) Records, 1962-1978, contains original
flyers and an article, as well as photocopies of meeting reports, UT press releases,
correspondence and memoranda by UT staff (including Harry Ransom), and newspaper
clippings. Materials pertain to the activities, including protests and meetings, of
the SDS and associated student organizations.

Students for a Democratic Society Records, 1962-1978, Dolph Briscoe Center for
American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

Processing Information

Subsequent revisions were made by Laurel Rozema, July 2010 and Stefanie Lapka, November 2013.

Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project, 2009-2011.